Full Life
by MistyRay
Summary: What if Patty had ran away with Anton?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Summer of My German Soldier _or any of the characters. They belong to Bette Greene.**

**Note: The excerpt from the book is in italics. The place where I started my twist to it is in normal font.**

_I left my sack at the foot of the garage steps and crawled my way through the blackness. "Anton," I whispered. But behind the closed door, there was only silence. A feeling of loss swept over me. "Anton!" I cried, hitting the door with my fist. "It's me! Patty!"_

_Abruptly the door opened. "Quiet!" As he led me through the blackness I tried to find my voice. " I thought, I thought you had gone," I said and then somewhere came crying. Only after my tongue had tasted saltiness did I know its source._

_Anton squeezed my hand._

"_I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know I was going to do that." Anton brought my hand to the slightly moist inner corners of his own eyes. "Just wanted to point out that the biggest difference between us is that you cry more noisily than I."_

_I laughed, feeling grateful for the darkness which concealed my eyes._

"_We both knew that I couldn't stay. It had to happen, P.B., you always knew that."_

"_No, I didn't!" I breathed in deep. "Anton-" I needed to say his name aloud again as though it were a magical incantation. "Anton, I won't even be that much trouble. What I'm trying to tell you is-" The hurdle felt too high for vaulting._

"_P.B., I don't think-"_

"_Don't talk. Listen to me." It was my hurdle, and I had to clear it myself. "I don't think you oughta leave me, not now. I haven't learned all those things you were going to teach me-things about Emerson and-and- Oh, Anton, let me be with you, go where you go."_

_His thumb pressed against my palm. "You know what you are asking is impossible, but if you're saying that you love me-"_

"_Yes," I answered, wandering if it came out audibly. "Yes."_

"Then know this, Patty, it is not one-sided. I love you too, and I will miss you, but it is far too dangerous for you to travel with me. As to me staying here, it is endangering me."

I tasted the saltiness on my tongue again.

"It's for the best, P.B."

"Just let me go with you!" I said in a voice consumed in both anger and desperation.

"I don't care if it's dangerous! I don't care if I die! I'll die if I stay here too. I'd much rather live a short and full life than a long and empty one."

Anton just stared into my eyes, but he wasn't intently staring. He was looking far past my eyes and into his world of thought.

"Please let me go with you," I said, my voice barley a whisper and more of a whimper.

His hand lightly traced my jawline as he continued his staring. He finally spoke

"Come with me then, Patty," he said with a sparkling, intense eyes.

I through my arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around me in return. He stood there in silence for only a moment before he broke away.

"The train comes by about ten fifteen. Are you packed?"

I nodded. "My bag is downstairs."

"Good. We should go now."

He got his bags and opened the door. He quickly climbed down and offered up his hand to me.

We left toward the field that separated my house from the tracks. I took one look back and said a silent goodbye to Ruth and Sharon. I had nothing else worth saying goodbye to.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I took one last look into Anton's eyes and it cleared every last doubt I had. I turned and started walking away. I didn't look back.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Summer of My German Soldier _or any of the characters. They belong to Bette Greene.**

We had only been walking for maybe five minutes when Anton suddenly tackled me to the ground and rolled over on top of me. I opened my mouth to speak, but Anton clamped his hand over my mouth. I only had to listen for a second before I realized the reason for Anton's actions.

"I heard something over there," I heard a deep male voice say.

"Yeah, me too," I heard another voice reply.

My heartbeat immediately picked up its pace and oxygen felt as hard to swallow as a log when I realized what the voices meant. They had found us.

My mind spun before Anton's whisper interrupted.

"Do you trust me?"

I nodded.

What happened next all happened so quickly. Anton grabbed his bag and started digging through it savagely. I saw the moonlight catch on something when I realized what Anton grabbed from his bag…it was a knife. I was trying to figure out where Anton got the knife from when he, without warning, grabbed me and held the knife to my throat.

"Hey!" Anton yelled.

The men whose voices I heard turned to face Anton. My whole body became ice when I became aware that the men were carrying guns…guns that were aimed at us.

"Drop your weapons!" Anton said with a forcefulness that I had never heard him use before. "Drop your weapons or I'll… I'll kill her." My heart that was beating rapidly before it just plain out stopped. The men exchanged a glance and slowly put down the weapons.

"Leave them there," Anton commanded as he started walking backward with the knife still on my throat. The men did as instructed. We continued backing away until we got into a clump of trees. Anton quickly took the knife away from my throat, took my hand in his and started to run.

When we got to the train station, we quietly climbed into one of the empty boxcars. It was rusty and cold inside; I would usually find it a depressing place. But this train was my ticket away from my old life: the ticket to my life with Anton. I practically collapsed into one of the corners of the boxcar and tried to process everything that just happened. Anton had also settled not far from me.

I heard a loud whistle that signaled the train's departure. As the train started rolling, I realized just how cold the boxcar was. I took my sweater out of my bag and covered my shoulders. Even then, I was still cold. I laid my head down on my bag and curled up into a ball. I tensed my muscles in attempt to stop the shaking that was covering my body, but the attempt was in vain.

I looked over to Anton, who was obviously cold as well. He caught my glance.

"You're shaking," he said, his voice full of concern. "Come here," he whispered with his arms open to me. My heart skipped a beat. I quickly crawled into his embrace.

"My apologies for what happened back in the field. It may not have been our best alternative, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to come up with anything better on such short notice," he said.

"I think it was quiet smart, actually," I replied. Anton smiled.

"We had better get some rest," he said as he wrapped his strong arms around me and brought my head down onto his chest.

"Goodnight, Anton," I said quietly as I slipped away into slumber.

"Goodnight, P.B., _Ich liebe dich_."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Summer of My German Soldier **_**or any of the characters. They belong to Bette Greene.**

I sat in the corner of the boxcar looking down at my now swollen ankle. We were on our second train now, and I had sprained my ankle when jumping off the first train. Anton had to carry me to our next train, which really bothered me. It didn't bother me that he was helping me; I was worried that I was becoming the burden I promised I wouldn't be.

"I'm sorry," I said to Anton, who was munching on one of the sandwiches I had packed.

"For what?" he asked between two bites.

"For being such a burden," I replied.

"P.B., let my assure you that you are not a burden. And remember, you are the one who helped me in the first place. This is merely my chance to reciprocate."

"But still, Anton, you've done so much…" I was cut off by Anton.

"Did you ever come to the conclusion that I might like taking care of you?"

I was silent. No. I hadn't thought of that.

Anton now looked me square in the eyes. "Let me take care of you, Patty Bergen," he whispered.

I reached over to Anton and gave him a hug. I heard him chuckle. We just sat there for a moment when out of nowhere I realized that I had no idea where we were going.

"Where are we headed?" I inquired.

"Boston. It has a port there, and we can sneak onto one of the ships headed overseas and we can hide in the cargo hold. If we get that far, we will start making our way to Germany."

"What if we're recognized in Boston? There are a lot of people there."

"Yes, I have heard that there is a considerably large population in Boston, and that is precisely what I am relying on. Yes, we could be recognized, but it would also be easy to slip into the crowd. It could go either way. We will just hope that it falls toward the latter."

I nodded my head in agreement. I played the plan over and over in my head until I wanted to take my mind off it.

"Anton?"

"Yes?"

"Will you teach me German?"

His face broke out into his perfect smile.

"All right. Let's start with something simple. Say _hallo._"

"_Hallo,_" I repeated. "That's hello, right?"

"Correct. Now say _zug._"

"_Zug_. What does that mean?"

"Train."

I smiled.

"Hey, Anton?"

"Hm?"

"What did you say to me last night… after you said goodnight?"

"_Ich liebe dich_?" he asked, smiling again.

"I think so."

"What do you think it means?" His eyes were intense as he stared into mine.

"Does it mean goodnight?"

"No. It means I love you," he replied, eyes still locked on mine. I felt a blush rise in my cheeks.

"I… I love you too," I said as my eyes fell to the floor in attempt to hide my blush. Anton gently tucked his fingers under my chin to lift my head.

""_Küss' mich_," he whispered.

"What does that mean?"

"Let me show you," he said as he tilted my head up and gently set his lips on mine.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Summer of My German Soldier **_**or any of the characters. They belong to Bette Greene.**

7 Years Later

I slowly opened my eyes as the light crept over my eyelids. I sat up to look out the window of my bedroom and I saw the warm, welcoming sun. I turned on my other side to see the warm, welcoming sight of Anton. With his dark hair all tossed and his head buried in his pillow, he slept. I couldn't help but smile at my husband. Everyday feels _voller _with him. Full. Yes, it took us what felt like forever to get here. Getting to Boston, finally getting on a boat after a couple attempt and fails, and making our way to Germany were all challenging adventures. Connecting with Anton's father, getting me back into school, and getting Anton back into medical school were some difficult hurdles to vault as well, but it was worth it.

I was suddenly snapped out of my train of thought when Anton started stirring. I lent over him and kissed him lightly on the lips before trailing the kiss down his neck and eventually landing on his chest where I rested my head. I looked up to see him: eyes open and smiling down at me as he ran a hand through my hair.

"_Du bist schön,_" he whispered. "He thinks I'm beautiful," I thought. I felt beautiful. Anton made me feel that way. He showed me what I couldn't see in myself. "_Ich liebe dich_," I whispered back. He smiled as his hand drifted down to my midsection and rubbed the newly developed bump there. "I love you too, P.R." _Voller leben. _Full life- my life with Anton. The End 


End file.
